Costume Jewelry
by Laryna6
Summary: Kujaku Mai character study and biography. Major MaiJoey, including marriage. Fluff, angst... what more could you want?
1. And

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, there would be some resolution with Mai, goddamn it!

Okay, I just finished Deny, and was planning on getting some sleep, it being around 1 in the morning. Unfortunatly, when writing the closing notes of that fic, I had an Inspiration. Damn you, Mai! Damn you! It is now around 2, and I am going to do this chapter and then get in bed for Real. I mean it this time. Really.

I am not guaranteeing an update every week for this. I was planning to not start another fic until I could, but noooo...

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And... what do I say?

Here's a story.

_Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a beautiful castle. Her parents loved her very much. _

Her parents ignored her.

_One day, she was kidnapped by an evil witch. _

She ran away.

_She was forced into servitude_.

She made tons of money as a professional gambler.

_She was aided by cute little forest animals. _

Her half-naked harpies kicked sexist ass.

_One day, she met a handsome prince on his way to an enchanter's palace to rescue his sister, the princess Serenity. _

On her way to yet another win, she made fun of a loser who drooled at the sight of her.

_She joined forces with the prince, and aided him in his quest. _

She tried to knock the weakling out of the tournament, and got her ass handed to her by the most goddamn lucky play she'd ever seen.

_She aided him against an evil dragon warrior_.

She sicced Rex on him. Male chauvinist pig.

_Her animal friends helped her gather and prepare the bounty of the forest for him and his party of brave warriors. _

She knew what a jerk Pegsy was, and had brought food. Out of the goodness of her heart, she shared it with the chumps.

_She was stolen away by a dark sorcerer-assassin, and the prince rescued her. _

Yugi kicked Panik's ass. And gave me back those star-chips, god knows why. I don't get them.

_The princess repaid her debt._

I gave Yugi eight star-chips. I still can't believe I forfeited. What the hell was I thinking?

_The princess ceded her rightful throne to one of the prince's companions._

Yugi kicked my ass.

_She then gave the prince the magical talisman that assured his victory._

So I gave him my entry card. Big deal.

_Many years later, she came to cheer him at a tourney. _

Rematch, here I come!

_Unfortunatly, the noble princess was captured by a demon lord._

Don't think about it. Don't!

_The brave prince sacrificed his life to rescue her._

... Yugi did it, anyways.

_But she was only free for a short while, for another sorcerer enslaved her will. _

They say it wasn't really my fault. Bullshit.

_This time, the prince gave up his very soul, and chance to aid the world, to free her. _

Goddamn MORON! I was trying to... MORON!

_After this, consumed by guilt, she fled to a nunnery, intending never to see the prince again._

I'm not that stupid.

_But the prince came on bended knee to ask for her hand. He showered her with the finest jewels in all the land, if she would but be his queen. _

One day, he laughingly got down on one knee. It was a goddamn little plastic trinket. He had just found it in a Cracker Jack box he was eating out of. I should have thrown it back in his face.

_And she said yes. _

And he didn't expect me to take him seriously. Baka. Don't joke about stuff like that.

_And they lived happily ever after._

We win every tournament Kaiba and Yugi don't enter. Fear me! Muahahahaaaa! We have more money than Bill Gates, now that Kaiba ran him out of business.

And touch one hair on my puppy's head and I will show you why I wear high heels.

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And... what more do you wanna know?

True, I've told you a tale... but there's so much more to it than that.

A 26-year-old bitch queen and the sweetest little punk ever to draw breath.

We... just kept running into each other. I knew he had a crush on me the moment he saw me. Lots of boys did. I've had more marriage proposals than I can remember.

Actors, world-class duelists... diamonds the size of your thumbnail.

I turned them all down. I wanted to be alone.

I wanted a plastic ruby and a wedding band with hieroglyphics on it, custom-made with the money from that tournament we tied in.

God, he's sappy.

God, I love him.

After all he's suffered for me...

He was willing to die, rather than abandon me. He tried to fight Malik. He was clinically dead.

I can't believe I did that. Joking about something like that... I can't believe I pretended to be still dead to the world even after Yugi won. I told myself the look on his face when he realized what was going on was priceless, but...

I shouldn't have done that. He was heartbroken. I told myself he didn't really care that much.

I knew I was lying. It scared me.

I ran.

The hurt, the disbelief. No matter what I said, he wouldn't believe I was aiding Doom of my own free will.

He stood there, hurt and exhausted, trying to reach me with his cards. He had Helmos, he could have won.

He pushed me out of the Seal. How could he have known I was going to let my soul be taken in place of his?

I tried to free him. I failed.

He helped save me.

I ran. But I kept track of him. And one fine day, he came with a business proposal.

How could I have turned him down?

And years later...

200 guest list?!!! I don't even know that many people! Oh, wait. I do. Weirdness. Joey! Get over here and address these envelopes!

Where to register? I've got everything from Tiffany's I want...

Do or do I not tell my parents?

Shizuka's Bridesmaid, Yugi's the Best Man obviously...

Talk to Yugi re. arrangements for the Harpie Sisters and Flame Swordsman, etc. to attend. Shadow portal, temporary transformation to humans...

Fuck this. Joey! You do this. I'm going to go exercise.

Good puppy. You may have a kiss.

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I'm actually trying to move away from monologue style... the following chapters are probably going to be a mix, experiments. I wrote out some notes, ideas, but they are subject to scrapping.

Well? What do you think?


	2. I

Disclaimer: I know I've used this before, but if I owned Yu-gi-oh, there would be actual character development! We have _one _scene with young Mai!

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Please write an essay explaining who you are and why you would be a good addition to the Eastvalley University community.

Who am I? Why do you care? No one does. All you care about is the money Mr. Kujaku is donating to get his daughter accepted to a prestigious university. The Pre-Business major, obviously. I am your ticket to a new stadium.

And by now, you have come to the conclusion that I am an obnoxious, ungrateful brat. Well, you'd agree with my father on that. His trophy daughter whose intelligence scores are off the charts, put in the right pre-schools, elementary schools, Preparatory Academies. Note the plurals.

I was taking ballet and piano and cotillion when I was in the goddamn preschools. Friends? No point. No time. When I was always moving, my father moving up the corporate ladder. And, according to my loving parents, I had more important things to do.

Until I was in high school. Then I needed to be associating with people. Extracurricular activities. Only the right ones, of course. And then my father hired on at Industrial Illusions. And brought his perfect little daughter to social functions to show me off. So he gave me some money and told me to buy cards, so he could have a little Duelist daughter, who loved the game the great company made.

Brown-nosier.

Only... I was browsing at the company's online site (my father had credit there), and I saw _them_.

The Harpie Lady Sisters card.

A family.

A real one, not a five-to-nine father and a mother always out shopping and a much, much older brother already moving up the corporate ladder, a little clone of my father.

So I bought them. And things to help them. I got only orders, no help. My parents would never quiz me before an exam, listen to me play the music I hated. Oh no.

I would help my new family.

They're just cards, I bet you're saying at this point.

Well, the Harpie family is a lot more real than any family I've ever seen. _They_ actually cared about me.

I won. I dueled other kids at the parties my father brought me to. He let me join the Duelist club at school, you'll see it on my extra-curricular activities pages. Duel Monsters is the chess of the modern age, of course he approved.

He even let me enter a few tournaments. You'll see them under the non-academic awards category.

Here I was, among people who judged me only on my skill. Who didn't care about my family's money, who didn't suck up. They just dueled. The best man won, not the best at sucking up.

Real people. Honest competition.

But of course, I couldn't spend time with them outside of dueling. Couldn't make friends with people who couldn't help me on my way up.

I knew what my father would say. Dueling attracts the best and the brightest. The scholarship kids, held in contempt by the rest of the school. If my father found out, he'd make me quit the club.

I'd get a lecture about associating with the wrong crowd.

Yes, my parents really are that scary.

They have my life all planned out.

I've met my future husband.

Well, I have my life planned out too.

And my plans don't include attending Eastvalley.

Sorry about applying early decision, my parents made me. I know you're not supposed to apply early decision unless you are sure you will go if accepted.

Sayonara.

I want to be who I am, not who they want me to be. I want golden trophies, not gold wedding rings.

I want to roar, not simper. I want honest wolf-whistles, not perverted old men staring.

I'm eighteen now. A legal adult. I have sole access to my funds. I've returned all the entering-college gifts.

I'm free. I'm leaving.

Mai Kujaku, trophy child, is dead. Long live Mai Valentine, Duelist Queen.

I've had my name legally changed. I'm serious about this. I am not coming back. I am not going here.

So put my essay in the rejected pile, because I reject you, you elitist bastards.

Tomorrow, I fly out for Germany, to enter a tournament there. Then Spain, England, Italy... all those languages I had to learn will actually be useful.

Nothing else will.

There are hundreds of duelists who travel the world, supporting themselves. Several of them were at the tournaments. The tournaments I won.

By the time you get this, by the time you forward it to my 'loving' parents, I'll be long gone.

I'm going to be independent and flaunt myself and kick ass. I'm going to be the bitch queen I am instead of having to act all perfect.

It's my life. And damn you all, but you can't stop me from living it anymore.

I'm writing this to you, Mr. or Ms. Application Reader, because I can't tell it to my parents. Their ears will edit out what they don't want to hear, like they always have. They'll insist, and won't be able to grasp that their anger has no power to move me anymore. I'll just get angry at them, at their arrogance, at their blindness, and they aren't worth it. They aren't worth my anger.

But I needed to say this. It needed to be said.

So, sorry for wasting your time.

Bye bye for real now, babe.

I gotta go pack. Hell, I gotta go shopping.

I don't really own anything that fits me. That fits who I am. My parents would have tossed it out and lectured me.

I fucking hate that. Hated it. Past tense, notice.

If you want to pass this on to them, feel free. But don't think 'clearing the air' or anything will bring about a reconciliation.

I'm never going to speak to them again. Just like they never spoke to me except to give orders.

I think I'm being much nicer, don't you?

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I always viewed Mai as American. I'm picturing third-generation, but with Japanese ancestry, obviously. The scene in I think episode 92... she's standing at the window of a mansion. I picture her as a poor little rich girl.

A theme in this thing is going to be appearance vs. reality, as you can see in the title, Costume Jewelry. She's been forced into being a little princess all her life, here she's declaring herself to be what she conceives of herself to be. But... is that reality?

I thought the name Mai Valentine was dumb until I thought of Fay Valentine. I can picture an impressionable Mai sneaking out to the Cowboy Bebop movie. She seems to have modeled herself after her, don't you agree?


	3. Am

Disclaimer: Has the manga shown Jou and Mai's wedding? No? Then I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

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Dear Diary,

This morning I went shopping and bought:

A solar shower

10 candy bars

Trail mix

Fruit

Instant oatmeal

A pan

Duffel to put everything in

Water bottles

Soda

Chips

Vitamins

A sleeping bag

And a bunch of other stuff.

I also shanghaied the hotel soap, shampoo and towels.

Why, you ask?

This morning I got a call from Himiko-chan, of the Old Girls Network, who was in charge for the arrangements for the Duelist Kingdom tournament that Pegasus announced. The guy's a fruitcake, but the prize money is acceptable.

There ain't going to be any goddamn food on the island, forget beds, until you get in the castle for the final rounds.

What a cheapskate!

Apparently he's also introduced some new rules for kicks. Himiko knew better then to ask if I wanted to know them. Pegasus is a few traps short of a deck, but he always does this crazy stuff that's fun.

It's a shame Himiko decided to join Industrial Illusion's Tournament Organizing Department. There aren't really enough good women duelists.

There's the munchkin in America, and Vivian, who is a ho, Ishizu who has a day job and never leaves Egypt, which doesn't have a big duelist community so no one's heard of her, and Vicky-chan who is agoraphobic and can only compete in tournaments which let her play over a video screen from her bedroom, and 'cause she's so good (and 'cause she's a girl) they keep suspecting her of cheating and sending referees, and strangers freak her out…

There are maybe a dozen like me.

Which means less competition for prize money.

Ya gotta look for the silver lining.

Anyways, I get on the boat to the island, and only people who competed in the Japanese National Tournament and got to the finals, which were last week, got rooms.

And I wasn't in that tournament because I am an American and hence was in the American Tournament, in which I placed second due to the munchkin.

I still can't believe the rumors about the bear were true.

Anyways, while wandering around checking out the 'competition', mostly middle-schoolers, I came across this spiky munchkin who was talking to a blond doofus about how they each only had one star chip, so they had to be careful.

The blond wasn't invited. He's going to get knocked out sooo easy, and I said so.

The blond was drooling when he saw me, then he got ticked off. Baka.

He's going to get kicked off fast. On the other hand…

What the hell is up with this tournament? Himiko said they got orders all of a sudden to hold it a week and a half ago; right after Kaiba finally got his ass kicked by this 'Yugi' guy.

I wonder if Pegsy arranged this to see if he makes it to the finals and is any good?

It's weird though. Normally these things are planned months in advance. Himiko and everyone were stressed as hell, having to make gloves and hire a cruise ship and everything on no notice.

And, after the big worldwide National Tournaments, all the major duelists are kicking back, mostly. And he did it with invitations, but most of the people here aren't anybody. Made it past the first couple of rounds, sure, but…

Pegsy is nuts. That explains everything.

Anyways, I ran into this Male Chauvinist Pig named Rex, who came in second in the Japanese National Tournament, and so had a room.

I dueled him for the room, and obviously kicked his ass.

So I'm chilling and raiding the mini-bar, and writing.

I used that scent-thing Himiko showed me, and it really freaked the idiot out. I think I'm going to use it until I run into some honest competition, if I ever do. Didn't see anyone worth dueling on the boat, except Insector Haga, who is scum.

Japan doesn't have a really big duelist population. The game, and Pegsy, are American, after all. You can't move in high schools during recess without stepping over someone's game.

He has estates all over the frigging world, he's that rich.

It's strange, you know? Poker, bridge… people have always gone nuts for card games, gambling, but this…

It's like everyone's obsessed with it.

Football fans are less obsessive than Duel Monsters fans.

It costs more to get airtime at the Worldwide Tournament Final Round than the friggin' Superbowl, Himiko told me.

Which is where they're getting all the money for prizes. That, and the fact they can't print the goddamn cards fast enough.

I want to duel Pegasus. I want to meet the guy who could create something like this, something that brings people from all over the world together. Like the Olympics.

This… it's my life. It's so much fun.

I want to thank him for creating my Harpies.

An' I wanna kick his ass. And this Yugi kid's.

That'll be fun. Kaiba's _tough_. Someone who could cream him…

But it could have just been an accident.

Right. There are no accidents in dueling.

It's like… I'm part of something, you know? Like… I'm meant to be here, meant to be a Duelist. And I'm being rewarded for it. Cars, condos, diamonds…

Speaking of which, good thing I left my jewelry in the hotel safe. _Not_ bringing the real stuff to a godforsaken island.

God, my nails are gonna die.

That's why Himiko got a day job. Sick of hotel beds. Now, she only duels in unofficial tournaments that are near Osaka.

And 'cause… she wanted to be part of this. Bringing it about.

Not like my dad, just wanting to inch up the ladder. Dueling isn't a status symbol. It's a friggin' way of life.

I know that. Himiko knows that. Kaiba does. Everyone who's ever touched a card does.

It's adventure, it's fantasy, it's everything you ever dreamed, when you win that first time, when it all comes together perfectly.

It's for real. Glamour and glitz and cheering crowds and just for one moment you're a god.

Everything you ever wanted in little paper rectangles, worth more than any silver or gold.

God, look at this. I'm acting like a friggin' poet. Sheesh.

Man oh man, I need to get to bed.

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Thanks, moonymonster and Chibi-Pepsi13!


	4. A

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, Mai would end up not alone.

I think I really am getting better. Mai/Jou, my other OTP. Man… just like Forgiveness, the stuff I wrote in order to write something kind of threw off the plot. So I'll re-arrange the upcoming chappies… My knowledge of the Duelist Kingdom manga arc is sketchy, but this was at j-anime: after the tournament, Mai is stuck because all the boats have left like the rest of the cast. Kaiba flies them off, but Mai isn't there when they take off. Jou throws down a rope ladder for her.

Oh, and now that school has started, and with my energy level being …intermittent, I'm going to write things when I can, post them to my lj, and then post everything to on Friday night/evening. So we can have some… semblance, of regular, convenient updates.

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"You goddamn jerk, pull me up!" She yelled, hanging on to the rope ladder for dear life and trying to grip the lower rungs with her feet as well, scrambling with high heeled shoes.

Jou laughed, half out of the copter himself. "What, I thought you said you liked hanging out, Mai!" he said loudly as well, the words hard to make out in the noise of the chopper.

"It was exciting for the first five minutes, now my arms are getting tired! Help me up, you jackass!" She wished she could take a hand off the rope to shake a fist at him, or better yet give the punk the finger.

"I'd love to, Mai, but there's no room in here either!"

Jou waved his arm at the inside of the chopper, prompting an, "Ow!" from someone inside.

"According to Kaiba, this chopper's only rated for four, and there's him, his little bro'," and Mai knew Jou's sister wasn't here, and he knew she knew, but kept on, "Yugi, Honda, Tea, Ryou, me, an' you! I'm stuck hangin' out 'cause if it got any more crowded, Kaiba wouldn't be able to get at the controls safely!"

"…" Mai didn't remember a lot about helicopters, but she was damn glad suddenly that the kids were, well, kids. And glad that they were still over the sea. "How long until we land?" she yelled back up.

Jou turned around. "How long 'til we cn' get off, Kaiba?"

She couldn't make out the response, but Jou stiffened a little, the visable hand flexing around the helicopter door's edge like a fist wanting to clench. "Wel' ya… sue you, huh?"

"…..you, …Mutt." More indistinct speech, and Mai thanked her lucky stars she'd run while she could, otherwise she might have ended up married to someone like this creep.

Jou snorted, fingers clenching, and turned back to her. "Hold on a sec!" One of his feet came into view, and he shifted his grip, lowering himself enough to put it on the rope ladder, which shifted at the sudden force acting on it, then started to swing back and forth, agitated by the gusts from the chopper's blades.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you stupid punk!" Mai yelled, trying to shift like on a swing to counteract the swaying.

"Getting out!" Jou yelled down, putting another foot on the other site of the rope ladder to balance it out, then shifting the first food down a rung, now sitting on the floor of the chopper.

"…" Mai knew he was nuts now. There wasn't even land in sight yet, and from this height on what had been a clear day that meant they had a long way left to go. And the sun was only about an hour from setting, she couldn't look at her watch like this, and being this high, with these winds, at night, in just a tee and jeans and a thin jacket… he'd freeze.

She ignored her own skimpy attire. It was the principle of the thing. "Oh no you're not!"

He laughed. "Already am, Mai!" He was all on the rope ladder now, on the other side of it from her. It wasn't swinging too badly now. "Cn' you move your hands so I don't step on them?"

"I am not some fainting lily, I'm almost a decade older than you and I am not letting some high school kid freeze out here! You get back inside!" He was close enough she wasn't yelling just to be heard now, she was yelling because she was _pissed_.

And the punk had the nerve to laugh at her again, climbing down, his abs in front of her, shirt pushed up while climbing, on the other side of the rope ladder from her. Fortunately he didn't seem to realize, as he kept climbing down so his feet and hands were on the same rungs as hers, on opposite sides.

He grinned at her, like the idiot he was, and nodded up. "Start climbin' Mai, I'll help you up." His face was close enough to hers they didn't have to shout, even though the winds roared around them.

And she roared at him. "You male chauvinist pig! I bet you think you're being chivalrous! I don't need your help, I'm not climbing up there and taking the spot of someone a fraction of my age!" Well, that was exaggerating a bit, and he laughed at her again.

Punk.

She couldn't really call them losers any more, could she?

"Oh come on, Mai, you're not that old." Still grinning.

She snorted. "You'd _better_ not have thought I was."

He shook his head emphatically, still grinning at her. "Well, I'm not taking it either, and the rich bastard's made his feelings clear on me stinkin' up the cockpit." How could he smile at that? "So either you climb up or we both hang on here. Come on, you know you don't want to hand around with losers."

The wind was howling around them, his threadbare jacket and her designer token one helpless against the chill, and he was making _puns_.

Punk. Grinning at her. Stubborn punk. He really wasn't going to climb up, they both knew.

It was the principle of the thing. She couldn't lose face… any more face then she already had. "I'm not going to take the place of a kid! I don't need to be coddled!"

Jou snorted. "Who said anythin' 'bout coddling? Your clothes are hot," an appraising glance that most certainly did _not _make her blush, she'd been appraised my much handsomer men, much nearer-her-age men, much richer men… well, he was a millionaire until he gave that check to his sister, "but not very warm." He was grinning again. "An' we owe ya' for the food 'n' everything, think about it that way."

He had a point, but, "I'm not budging." Her eyes narrowed.

He siiighed exaggeratedly, rolling his eyes.

And took a hand off the ladder and started to wriggle it out of the sleeve of his jacket. No. He was not going to offer his jacket to her. Even he wouldn't dare be that much of a… the free hand grabbed the now free sleeve and held it as it regained its grip on the rope, then Joey took his other hand off of the ladder and repeated the process.

Until his jacket was off and he was looking at her expectantly, grinning and saying while she stared, "I'm not going to put it back on."

She let go with one hand and took it. And glared.

Yes, he understood that if he ever, ever, boasted to anyone about this he was _dead meat_.


	5. Material

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, Joey wouldn't have been too afraid to tell her he saw her in that vision that let him get up after Ra's attack.

This is Mai after Marik shadow-gamed her on the Battle Ship.

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Well, this wasn't such a bad way to spend eternity, she told herself. It wasn't exactly heaven, but it wasn't what she would have picked for a hell, either.

Although the sand had been pretty scary when it started falling, until she calmed down and realized that being stuck here for eternity meant he probably wasn't going to kill her quick with the sand. She'd cupped her hands in front of her mouth and nose, so she didn't have any of it going down her throat, and the pieces were round, so they weren't rubbing her skin raw. It was just sort of annoying, and made it hard to move.

Not that there was anywhere to move to, in this stupid hourglass. This… was her soul, right? Well, if it was her body, she'd be uncomfortable as hell in this position, after as long as she'd been sort of crouching, kneeling here. How long?

Eternity. Who cared how long it had been? She'd tried to fall asleep, but she didn't know if she had or not… no way to mark the time.

But… why sand, and an hourglass? Why not whips and chains and razors and branding irons? The freak had looked the type… she'd have thought there would be pitchforks.

And… only having her horrible memories wasn't very _good_, but it made her miss what she'd had less. Not that that was very much.

It wasn't so bad here. Didn't have to make money, didn't have to be married off to the highest bidder, didn't have to be oogled by guys, her only consolation a stupid card game. Had she been so desperate she'd found stupid slips of paper enough of a consolation to go on living?

She was well out of it, she told herself. She shouldn't be crying over something so stupid. Hell, the bastard'd done her a favor. She missed being able to move, sure, but she had a constant reminder of what she'd never had right in front of her.

That was the bit that hurt. It was only a little pain, but she just _bet_ it would get more and more over time. She could easily, so easily, grow to hate the two vivacious brunette girls splashing around with their buddies, in their designer swimsuits. Just like her, why did she have what she'd never had?

The little innocent boy who was going to get that innocence beat right out of him like she had… if this was the real world. But no, he'd stay that happy and innocent, being pranked and laughing at it by the two stupid jocks, like had always looked at her like a piece of meat, and hated it and got revenge in a hundred small ways whenever she'd proved them wrong. That blond especially was so very handsome, and she bet he knew it. She bet he thought he was a player, got all the girls to fawn on him, treated them like dirt. Bastard.

Like that jerk who'd tried to beat her and get her to marry him, after she'd embarrassed him by beating him. Dumped her in midair and she'd fallen to the ground, catching herself on a flagpole on the way down, but then she'd slipped, and…

Don't think about it.

But, well, look on the bright side. It wasn't like he could come in here, from what the guy had said. No attacks, no cruel barbs… if all she could do was look, then she'd look. It was safe, after all.

Just a stupid illusion, he couldn't hurt her unless she let herself resent him.

She did have to admit he was a piece of work, though. And the swimsuit was pretty beat up, so not some guy who's trying to look that good. Which was a point in his favor. And he had nice abs: some muscles on him. Wrestling? Those weren't the big, unbalanced ones body builders liked to show off by sticking in her face until she used her spiked heels to get them to get lost. Maybe a part time job? A pretty active one. Blue-collar?

What was she thinking, she wasn't Sherlock Holmes, she couldn't figure out the history of some kid who was probably just part of the illusion just by checking him out in a swimsuit.

But, then, what else was there to do? The most of the others were clearly Japanese, even the weird-haired kid, and they were hanging out with this blond, and not a bleach-blond, she knew hair dye when she saw it, and if it was hair dye, it was a damn good job, and she doubted a kid in a raggedy swimsuit could or would pay for one that good.

One of the brunette girls, the one with lighter brown hair, kept hugging him very enthusiastically, but it didn't look like he was robbing the cradle. He looked… affectionate, and happy, laughing and petting her on the head as she pouted at him and shook her finger at him. She couldn't hear any words in here, but she would just bet the girl was saying, "Oni-chan! I'm not a little kid anymore!"

Her older brother never would have played around with her like that. He'd never wanted his kid sister around his friends at all, because she would embarrass him. She supposed she was supposed to be injured by that too, but it was just… sweet. See? He wasn't so bad. No reason to get worked up for the rest of eternity.

Really. In an hourglass, surrounded by happy, laughing kids. And some sweet eye candy… the bastard wasn't seriously expecting her to get all worked up about how she could look but never touch, right? That was just stupid. She'd always been on the outside looking in.

This wasn't really anything new, nothing to get upset about, that she'd never find out about the poor boy with the sister who had money (divorced?) and really loved him. That she'd never get to see if that hair was really the same color as her own, or play in the beach like them, and laugh, and act like she had… friends…

This was a miserable excuse for a hell. Definitely nothing to cry over, she told herself.


	6. Girl

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, Mai and Jou would be married in GX. I don't know if they are or not, and even if they are I don't own either GX or Yu-gi-oh. And I wouldn't want to own GX.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

Mai tipped the cab driver and as he drove away put her wallet away and looked around. Classy place. The Chinese government was really going all out for the duelists, guest or otherwise, competing in the 10th annual International Team Invitational Tournament (aka, the one with the really unfortunate acronym).

With three American National Championships (none of them in sequential years, none of them Team), under her belt, she'd made the invitation list, and she and Vivian Wong had both requested the other as partners.

And then… that stuff had happened, and it hadn't escaped everyone's notice that most of those who fell into comas were duelists. It had cast a shadow over the game, but a duelist was a duelist, and once you'd picked up the cards you couldn't put them down, really. After the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix, the advertisers had looked at the numbers and picked it up again, not that Pegasus couldn't fund tournaments worldwide for the next 20 years out of pocket. But the whole thing was being forgotten almost as quickly as it had happened. By most people, at least.

Her hand slipped automatically into her pocket to touch her deck. She'd shuffled, but she knew the top card was a Harpy Lady.

They'd forgiven her, even if she hadn't forgiven herself.

And lucky for her none of the ones (save a few, who wouldn't talk) knew she'd been a Doma member.

She knew it'd been that Dartz bastard, tricking and controlling her like he did the others, but that it 'wasn't her fault' only made it worse. First Malik and the Millennium Rod fucking with her head, now that goddamn green rock… she should get out of this game.

Her hands tightened around her deck, scared. What was she thinking? Right, she didn't have magic… no. She knew she did. She could feel it, now. But she wasn't in Yugi's league, didn't have anything backing her up… but she couldn't give up her Harpie Ladies. Couldn't give up this game.

She walked, sassy as ever, and teased the desk clerk as she picked up her room key, and put her jewelry in the hotel safe. "Mai! There you are!"

And there, running towards her through the lobby, waving, was Vivian, cheerful as ever. They smiled at each other, on the surface completely friendly, and this was a friendly meeting, they'd gotten along for ages and this was a team tournament… but looking for weakness underneath, catty almost. Alpha lionesses, as much as they might appear otherwise, and there was always the next tournament… second didn't put money in the bank.

Vivian's bank account had had one hell of a dent put in it by her comatose body spending almost the whole of… the affair, in Johns Hopkins University Hospital in America. She'd been flown there, one of the first to fall, while everyone was trying to figure out what this was… and the money she'd been paid for appearing at the invitational KC Grand Prix had covered a lot of it (people had been surprised by Kaiba's generosity, people would have paid for the chance to duel Yugi Motou…) but the way she'd embarrassed herself there, losing to a kid who had lost to a kid and her… inappropriate way of getting a duel from the King of Games (Vivian had always had poor impulse control) had lost her a lot of prestige.

She was chattering away at her as they agreed to go up to Mai's room for a drink, but they both knew they had to win this tournament.

Up against the Paradox Brothers, first round. Yugi and Joey had beaten them, but that was Yugi and Joey. She'd lost to Panic on Duelist Kingdom, and that was only one Eliminator, not two. And he hadn't just beaten her because of the scare tactics. Pegasus had picked some of the best.

But the opening ceremony was the only thing going on tomorrow, so tonight was a good time to stay up late and have a few and go over strategy. Both she and Vivian were equipment card users (protecting her Harpies had always been the most important thing…) and the Paradox Brothers were probably already working out ways to disable that aspect of both their strategies…

But these conversations wandered, like they always did after half a bottle or so of the good stuff, and Vivian was maudlin in her cups, bemoaning the fact she hadn't been able to get Seto Kaiba or Yugi Motou to look at her twice. Losing to Rebecca wasn't that bad, everyone knew the girl was a genius, but to go out on a limb like that to get Yugi Motou to duel her, and end up losing and looking like a complete idiot! "I was suchz a brat," she moaned, waving her cup. "He thinks I'm suchz an idiot now… his friendz weren't even watching, they all were acting like they knew I was going to lose…" She hung her head. "You know, you lost to him, and thozh duelz were broadcast… everyone knows about the perfume trick. Good idea, though," she said, pointing to Mai's deck, "it's not cheating, an' it freaks them out. Win in their heads, win on the field," she quoted the old dueling maxim.

If your confidence wavered, you couldn't focus to reach the cards as well. "Can't use it anymore." Mai shrugged. Wouldn't use it anymore. No tricks, she'd promised herself at Duelist Kingdom.

That bastard had managed to get her to do so many things so against her nature so easily… alone? All she had to do, all she would have done if only she could _think_, was pick up the phone and call. She wouldn't call Yugi Motou, not until she'd beaten, but Tea, Joey…

She couldn't call Joey now, though.

Couldn't stand the thought of seeing the look in his eyes. He'd dueled past his limits, forfeited his soul to get through to her.

He'd freed her from their control.

And she couldn't even avenge him.

"Your blond is cute too!" Vivian said, cheerful again. She'd been talking while Mai was zoned out… good thing she hadn't noticed Mai wasn't listening, the girl held grudges like crazy… "But Kaiba's so… so masterful, and Yugi is just the cutest little thing!"

Her blond? Mai snorted. "The blond? Mine? I wish." …she hadn't just said that, had she? Oh damn. She had.

Vivian didn't let her forget it, either.


	7. Not!

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, this would have been in the anime.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

"So, how you been, Mai?"

There he was. Grinning at her. She'd avoided him for three months, and now… here they were. Champion's lounge at yet another tournament, and if she walked out, everyone would know why.

She supposed she could… find someone else to talk to, but everyone had drifted away, including Yugi after he'd said hello. Everyone knew.

Kaiba might call Joey a mediocrity, but after the victories he'd won, second place to Yugi in so many tournaments, people couldn't really ignore that he was a champion.

Sure, he seemed like a punk, but then all duelists had their… idiosyncrasies. Her and her skimpy clothing… Rebecca had even used to carry a teddy bear out onto the dueling field.

You ignored the underdog at your peril. Duels were broadcast worldwide, it was practically a sport, and duelists checked out the competition. Watch duelist after duelist fall due to underestimating this guy… just like she had. They were catching on, but he still had the advantage over the dumb ones… and why wasn't she talking? She hadn't been struck dumb by the sight of him, certainly not.

"Fine." That was true. She's won a lot of money at various tournaments… he hadn't done so badly himself, enough to get his own apartment and disown his father… and sheesh, she really had been paying attention.

She'd watched all his duels, but that was just checking out the competition! And… she'd had to be sure he looked after that sweet sister of his.

She still remembered… she'd been around the corner when he'd opened the handkerchief with her card in it back at Duelist Kingdom, but she'd heard his little intake of breath… it had sounded like hope. Like dawn.

And why did this guy make her so poetic on the inside and so tongue-tied on the outside?

"Cool, cool." He nodded, grinning, like she hadn't cost him his soul and he hadn't fallen, smiling, into her arms.

He was always grinning at her. When he'd thought she was hot, when he beat her, when he fell for her, over and over again. He'd faced Malik for her, she'd found out before the… thing with the green stone, why had she been surprised when he'd risked his life and soul yet again?

And lost again. Because of her.

"So, Mai." He pointed at the bar. "Want to get a drink?"

Legal drinking age here was 16. She got a martini, and tried not to be pleased when he just got a coke. She'd known he wasn't the type, even if everyone talked about his father… well, she… wasn't a cold-hearted business woman anymore, at least.

The sins of the fathers… but they'd both escaped that. Right?

They sat there and sipped and gulped it down, respectively. Her hand was curled around her deck, for reassurance. He smiled at her when he put it down. She sipped so she didn't have to acknowledge it, though she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes.

She should probably say she was sorry, but that wasn't anywhere good enough. It would just cast a damper on this… well, she couldn't really call it a conversation. She sipped, to give herself an excuse not to talk, and he seemed content just to watch her.

Punk. Staring at her, like he had on the boat. But you couldn't really call it checking her out. He'd already checked everything off, it seemed… why did the idiot seem to think she was so perfect?

Now that she looked back on it, it had been sort of cute how he'd told her he hadn't seen her in that vision. So embarrassed… she should get the details out of him sometime.

Now, coming up onto the dueling platform on the Battle Ship, risking disqualification, to hold her and tell her he had seen her, and try to get through to her when she hadn't seen him, looking through him like she did too much… he'd stood there and vowed to protect her, and he hadn't been kidding. He would have taken that hit and he would have died… or maybe he wouldn't have.

He'd dared Ra before, and took that hit fighting Malik for her and survived. He'd survived falling to the Oricalchos. For her.

Punk had nine lives… he was like that cat, in the stupid song from summer camp, that always came back no matter how you tried to get rid of it… the song had detailed some fairly gruesome ways of trying to kill it, but none of them involved gods. At least as far as she could remember.

And damn. Her martini was empty. And she really shouldn't have two just before a duel. Who was she dueling? The category 3 winner… Joey had been in category 3. And he was still in the competitor's lounge.

My, Mai. What have you gotten yourself into now?

"How's it going?" He asked. Didn't he already know? She'd been keeping track of him… she should be honest with herself, she'd been practically stalking him.

"Fine." And hadn't he just asked basically that same question? She wasn't sure… "I've been winning a lot of tournaments." Of course.

"Of course." He grinned. "You're the best, Mai."

She snorted. "Flatterer. That's Yugi."

He nodded, eyes a little more serious, remembering. Yugi did seem different now… no puzzle. The spirit had to be gone, otherwise Yugi would never have taken it off. But he seemed to be doing alright… more than alright, the kid was kicking ass on the field. "'Sides him." Joey said, smiling again.

Mai snorted again. "Every duelist knows they are the best. You think you're going to lose, you do." And she couldn't lose to him today. She wanted to duel Yugi again. She remembered Duelist Kingdom… that duel had been flawed, both of them held back by old fears.

She wanted to duel Joey again… or she would. It would prove she was free of the taint. Or not… She sometimes thought she didn't want to know, out of fear it still lingered.

It was amazing how quickly everyone had forgotten. But then, nothing came before Duel Monsters. Well, almost nothing. She fingered her deck, the rings on her fingers clicking against each other.

He shrugged. "I'm not enough of the idiot they say I am to think I'm better than you, Mai." Once again she wondered how he could smile while saying something like that. "Though these others? Joey Wheeler is better than them any day!"

She couldn't help but smile back. "How's the dueling going?"

Joey looked embarrassed, leaning on the bar and looking for words. "It's tough, being a professional. Lot of things to think about, like getting visas for going to another country… lotta tricks I jus don't know, Mai."

He stood up. "I'd like to talk to you about that… after the duel." It was time, wasn't it.

And was he asking her to teach him? She stood up, holding out her hand for him to shake it. "I'll stick around."

They didn't have to be what people said they were, what their history said they were, either of them.


End file.
